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Recovery for Men

Hope The first thing to know is that recovery is possible. There is hope. Even in the most severe situations, recovery from sexual addictions and behaviors has occurred.

Commitment The second thing to know is, it takes time. A lot of time. Sex addiction requires three to five years of recovery to be successful, which is higher than any other addiction currently studied. A mistake addicts often make is to stop recovery, thinking they are healed, once a few external behaviors go away. They leave and not long afterwards all the old behaviors return. On the other hand, other recovering addicts may feel like giving up after working for many months and still seeing very little improvement. The key is, recovery requires a long term commitment for lasting results to occur.

A decision to enter recovery is a serious commitment. There is hope, but it will take a lot of work.

Support Groups Not every man struggling with sexual addiction requires counseling, but recovery does require being a part of a recovery group for men who are sex addicts. There are many kinds of support groups for sexual addiction. No one group is right for everyone. If a group is not working for someone, they should try another kind of group. Remember, however, that since recovery for sex addicts typically takes five years, no one should come to the conclusion that a group is not working until they give it several months at the very least. See the For Men Only page to learn more about our support groups for men.

Counseling or Therapy Often one-on-one counseling is needed to get around the issues brought on by disruptive childhood or past abuse. Support groups can provide basic information and accountability, but they are not equipped to deal with some deeper issues. Pure Life Alliance has a group of recommended treatment providers in the Portland, OR area listed on this website. It is important that you find a therapist who is trained in dealing with sexual addiction. A counselor without proper training could cause more harm than good in this sensitive area.